Spring is here. Our big white blooming tree (crab apple or cherry something or other) is past peak bloom already. It still is very beautiful, just not “as much” as earlier in the week. The blossoms are dropping slowly, and the leaves are getting greener and larger day by day.

I posted pictures of my Whiskey Barrel plants earlier today (all separate postings, unfortunately, not something I’ll be editing into one post anytime soon, or ever.) My Chives are making me want to make french bread and spaghetti on purpose (Chive Butter!) and the unnamed Thyme is good and fragrant already, I put some into the stew I’m making for dinner today. The Greek Oregano is simply fragrant and bushy, threatening to take over the barrel, already claiming about half the space or making moves for it, I’m going to pare it back some soon. It stayed active all winter, but has a new spring springiness, freshened and Super Hyper active. The Chives were also active over winter, but Super Hyper active now too.

The Eastern Redbud tree has been ready to bloom anytime and has opened several blossoms today. It’ll be a glorious purple blaze soon. The maple trees all have done their red blossom thing already. The Yoshino Cherry trees are ready-ing their blossoms, not yet there.

Let’s see then, there are a few other trees, starting their looking alive thing. The Weeping Willow (tree) and the Pussy Willow (bush) both appear to be dead. That’s not good. Actually I am not shocked about the bush, it was nasty, we moved it, it seemed to regroup, now looks petered ugly old knarly totally dead. No pussie willows this spring. Or next, unless …

So the Weeping Willow is another matter. It is usually greening up by now. It LOOKS dead and symptoms are every branch or strand I can touch is brittle, dry, snaps and is totally dead. Bark is pulled away from the trunk in many areas and every thing looks dead. There was a dead branch on it last year, it wasn’t dead early on, but at some point, and whatever it is, it’s the whole tree.

So, is it something Willow oriented? I don’t know, I’ve not gotten myself to do any research. I’m overwhelmed with the thought of taking the tree down. So it goes.

Anyhow, weeds are in their glorious phase. I have learned to forget about new gardening until later. Let the horrid weeds do their thing, pull out of this or that area for perennials and in the barrel, but don’t worry much about planting anything into a “garden” until later, weeds and disease, it’s too fresh and lovely for those things, but they rear their heads and what I do about things is so “natural” I just have more success starting later, if at all. I would like tomatoes and red peppers this year. Tomatoes I know I can do, red peppers I want to do, but never have successfully gotten even one pepper to eat from them.